AUTHOR=Nielsen Morten W., Olesen Morten S., Refsgaard Lena , Haunso Stig , Svendsen Jesper H.

TITLE=Screening of the Ito Regulatory Subunit Klf15 in Patients with Early-Onset Lone Atrial Fibrillation

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Genetics

VOLUME=4

YEAR=2013

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2013.00088

DOI=10.3389/fgene.2013.00088

ISSN=1664-8021

ABSTRACT=<p>Several studies have associated mutations in genes encoding potassium channels and accessory subunits involved in cardiac repolarization with increased susceptibility of atrial fibrillation (AF). Recently, the Krüppel-like factor 15 (<italic>Klf15</italic>) was found to transcriptionally control rhythmic expression of <italic>KChIP2</italic>, a critical subunit required for generating the transient outward potassium current (I<sub>to</sub>), and that deficiency or excess of Klf15 increased the susceptibility of arrhythmias. On this basis we hypothesized that mutations in <italic>Klf15</italic> could be associated with AF. A total of 209 unrelated Caucasian lone AF patients were screened for mutations in <italic>Klf15</italic> by direct sequencing. No mutations in the lone AF cohort were found. In one patient we found a synonymous variant (c.36C &gt; T). In NHLBI GO Exome Sequencing Project (ESP) the variant was present in 31 of 4269 Caucasian individuals and in 3 of 2200 African Americans. In our cohort <italic>Klf15</italic> was not associated with lone AF.</p>